


Coming back

by Bacner



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), MCU
Genre: AU - Canon Divergence, Coming Back, Gen, Limbo, Lunar New Year, S6 Spoilers, relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-30
Updated: 2019-02-06
Packaged: 2019-10-19 04:27:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17594609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bacner/pseuds/Bacner
Summary: S6 spoilers. How will Phil Coulson come back?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine, but belong to their respective owners.

The discussion started something like this: 

“Phil,” Melinda asked her special someone, for the lack of a better term. “I saw you die right before my eyes, right there and then. How exactly did you come back?”

Phil looked very hard at Melinda and tried to think of a right answer.

_Flashback!_  
When Coulson collapsed, for a minute he thought that he was back on Maveth, and that had been a long time ago, but he was wrong. The sand of the desolate scene was different, the smells were different, and the neighbouring cliffs, (in relation to him), were also different. Verily, wherever he had ended up at after seeing Melinda’s face dissolve into light, this was not Maveth, though the similarities were there as well.

“Now how did I get here?” Coulson mused as he got onto his feet and looked around. To be more precise, he turned around and saw that he was facing a small crowd instead. To make things worse, the man in the front was Grant Douglas Ward, gone and unlamented, (mostly), eyeing him…in a very bad way. Hostile, basically, but Coulson had to admit that after having killed off AIDA using Ghost Rider’s powers, even mere hostility was already bad. 

Agent 33 aka Kara Palamas was standing right behind Ward; for some reason, Coulson thought that they were holding hands…actually, it seemed as if the entire crowd was holding hands as it was facing him.

“Hello,” he said brightly, doing his best to be, well, himself. “Ward, is it you?”

Ward gave the older man another distinctively hostile look and yelled aloud instead:

“Tripp!”

“Yeah?” Antoine Tripplet, another one of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s former agents, spoke from behind Coulson. “I thought that you wouldn’t call-“

“What is Coulson doing here? I thought that Thanos’ cosmic snap-“

“He and the others have dodged it going to the future – not my doing,” the other man hurriedly said – clearly, whatever it was that was going on between him and Ward, it was not good. “Coulson died from natural causes – for a S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, anyhow – his time is up-“

“So what is he doing precisely here, then, in Limbo?”

“I don’t know,” Tripp snapped. “Fury’s doing, maybe?”

“Can’t you call him?”

“These days I’m an angel of the Lord, not an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” Tripp didn’t back down, causing Coulson to blink in confusion: say what?

“Can’t you call-“

“Yes, well, because, in part, of you, as well as of other reasons, neither is probably too impressed with my work right now, you know-“

Ward just stared – hopefully at him, because he had stared just past Coulson, and his half-lidded gaze was heavy, and in an oddly disturbing way as well. Maybe because the last time Coulson did see him it was in the Framework, where the two of them worked along reasonably well, with no past baggage on their shoulders. Right now, though, (and right here, though wherever’s ‘here’ was, Coulson still was not entirely certain), this did not appear to be the case at all.

“Tripp,” Grant’s voice sounded oddly weary now, “Coulson. Turn around, would you?”

Instinctively, Coulson did…and saw a doorway that was full of welcoming light, or perhaps it was a gateway instead. He was not sure.

“Tripp, take his hand, would you?” Grant continued to speak. “You’re returning with us – both of you.”

Coulson blinked and instinctively grabbed someone’s hand – maybe Tripp’s, or maybe it was someone else’s. That was a good thing too, as in the next moment someone kicked him hard through the doorway, and then there was light…

_Flash forward!_

“I, uh, have no idea as to who I am, what this place is, and just who are you?” Coulson decided to go for the option B instead; as Melinda’s eyes narrowed, he realized that he said a wrong thing.

“Phil,” Melinda began, but Coulson’s survival instincts kicked in and he fled, followed closely by Melinda, who was promising to kill him again.

“…See, I told you that they’ll have no problems,” commented Tripp, as he stood alongside Mack and Daisy, (and the new agent, Deke, who was giving him odd looks).

“Aha,” Daisy muttered, as she took a call of her own. “Mack, I need to go right now and talk to some people. Tripp, you are coming with me. Deke, you too.”

“Is she always that bossy, ‘cause you’re the director, technically,” Tripp asked the other man.

Mack just groaned.


	2. Happy Lunar New Year

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What it says on the chapter's title.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: none of the characters are mine, at all.

The evening was peaceful – not too hot, not too cold, and currently not too dark. The moon was coming out, the stars were already out, nightingales were singing among the trees, various frogs were competing with them from the shores of the river Ebro, and the half-a-dozen people who were walking through the shores of the aforementioned river looking for something strange, were having _very_ mixed feelings about it.

“You know, I’m not very sure as to why I have agreed to come,” Melinda ‘the Cavalry’ May told her companions, as they walked through Spanish countryside, looking for signs of suspicious activity. “No, seriously, I’m being honest and straightforward here!”

“I think that it has something to do with not-Coulson here,” Daisy shot the man in question a glare of her own – no one back over at S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn’t 110% sure that this wasn’t some sort of Coulson-like prank. “Are you going to continue at this?” she asked the older man.

“Yes!” Coulson/not-Coulson replied brightly, while flattering his eyelashes. They were short in a manly way, but somehow the man in question made them work. 

“Phil,” Melinda said wearily, “please cut it out. Even Grant Douglas Ward-“

“Don’t drag me into this,” the man in question replied crossly. “Talk to Tripp – he’s the man with the knowledge here and now.”

“Tripp isn’t on this trip – he wanted it to be some sort of a déjà vu thing, because reasons,” Daisy shot back. Grant just shrugged, which infuriated the InHuman woman even more. 

“This is getting stale,” she told him flatly. “You brought Kara – and a lot of other people that we hate, though not John Garrett or Daniel Whitehall, thank God – back from the dead so I’m certain that you’ll win her-“

“It’s not about winning – it’s about keeping,” some emotion finally colored Grant’s voice, “and ask Coulson over there about the difference. He had won plenty of people over in the past, but he never could keep them, not even Hunter and Morse, and they actually wanted to stay in S.H.I.E.L.D.-“

“Back down,” Melinda spoke before the older man, (and he really did look hurt by Grant’s words for someone who did not know, or remember, Hunter and Morse). “You were making everything worse-“

“Yes, I guess I did,” Grant nodded, while he did not back down, neither did he continue to go after the others, even verbally. “So, now what?”

Silence fell, as no one wanted to break it, especially the FitzSimmons, who were covering the scientific angle on this mission, as they did in the past, and were especially unhappy to be here, not just because of all the past baggage, but also because Fitz had only recently come back from space, and still had questions and issues of his own, regarding most other coworkers of his, and especially – how did he and Simmons get married, and was the Framework involved? 

No one involved with the Framework wanted to remember it again, so Fitz’s questions remained somewhat unanswered, and that made matters worse. Well, more dramatic at any rate, and that was not good either. 

“People?” the height-challenged Scott in question spoke up at last, “I think that there’s someone or something stalking us; does anyone care to check?”

“Oh, let me,” Daisy muttered, as she stomped her foot and set vibrations in the direction that Fitz had pointed at.

Something certainly emerged from the copse in question – certainly somewhat disturbed by Daisy’s vibrations, but not too much, and it was not a human at all.

“Guys? Is this the world’s biggest tiger?” Daisy said in a small voice as the gigantic feline made its way towards them, (Daisy had hid behind Grant by now – only because she had issues with wild animals).

“No, this is probably a liger – or a tigon,” Simmons said thoughtfully, “a lion-tiger hybrid raised in captivity. People-“

Simmons did not finish as the animal finally made its’ choice, trotted over to Phil ( **cough** ) and Melinda and began to lick them, maybe rather harshly, but then again, it was a really big animal too, all things considered, so some roughness couldn’t be avoided.

“Um, happy lunar New Year?” Phil ( **cough** ) turned to Melinda, who currently looked more dangerous than the giant wild cat in question.

“If this is intentional, then you got a completely wrong animal – it’s the year of the pig, not the tiger,” the Asian-American agent snapped, “and if it isn’t, we still cannot keep it at home, and not just because we don’t have one anymore.”

“That is something I can help you with,” Grant spoke-up suddenly.

“Of course you can,” Melinda said flatly, “Ward, I don’t know who you are-“

“A partial owner of Cybertek-“

“Interesting point, but nevertheless I think that we’ll try to handle it S.H.I.E.L.D.-style first,” Melinda did not back down; Grant shrugged and did instead.

“So much for trying to make nice with your prince of this world routine,” Daisy said flatly.

“I’m not that guy – Jeffrey Mace is that guy, and we’re all working for him,” Grant muttered back to her, utilizing the fact that everyone else was currently busy with their new animal friend (and calling Mack back at the HQ regarding that they will require a lift back home because of S.H.I.E.L.D.-related reasons), “I’m just the one who’s more likely to handle the metaphorical pitchfork, though it’s more of swords and scimitars with him instead.”

“Mace is dead-“ Daisy began, remembered the recent events and circumstances and changed her opinion. “We’re in for more than just some new uppity InHumans ahead, aren’t we?”

Grant just nodded. “How about we just let Phil, and Mel, and the FitzSimmons enjoy this evening instead?” he replied. “They will appreciate soon enough…”

Daisy just eyed the friendly feline giant and nodded in agreement. 

Overhead, close to the horizon but tangible regardless, storm clouds were gathering – the peaceful evening was ending, sadly.


End file.
